Is a flight really quicker than a train?

https://www.euronews.com/travel/2022/11 ... 1668785255
"I put it to the test from london to lyon". Well a nice young reporter did .

Yeah, if you choose to fly in and out of Luton, some 30 miles outside of London proper, it's going to be a lot slower.

Now try LGW or LHR.

Your welcome to try , to back up your hunch .

Nah, don't need to. I flew LHR-NCE regularly for six years. Hotel to hotel ran about 4-5 hours. Train from NCE was 11-13 hours station to station, and LYS was six hours from NCE... Thats 5-6 hours station to station, plus whatever time it takes on the tube or a taxi to the hotel.

Not saying it's universally shorter or longer, but which London airport you fly from does make a difference, especially when it's Luton or Stansted. I'd never choose air over train LON-PAR/BRU/AMS, but getting to secomdary cities, I'm flying if it's an option vs. making a station to station connection somewhere. Changing from Gare du Lyon to Gare du Nord isn't fun with luggage...

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Heathrow are asking passengers arrive 3 hours before their flight.

David Benton wrote: ↑Tue Nov 22, 2022 4:59 am Heathrow are asking passengers arrive 3 hours before their flight.

If you have elite status or are in business class and can qualify for Fast Track, it's entirely doable to show up 75 minutes prior for a short-haul flight.

Since Eurostar asks you to show up 45-60 minutes ahead of time, we're talking a difference of 30 minutes...

The New York Times has a report regarding passport control delays and limitations arising from Brexit.

Fair Use:

Mark Smith, a former train station manager and the founder of a website that advises Britons on how to travel by train, said that he was among the first to ride the Eurostar when it began service in 1994, offering travel between Paris and London. At first, it ran from Waterloo Station in London, but it moved in 2007 to a gleaming new terminal at St. Pancras, a service launched on a tide of champagne, and heralded as a harbinger of closeness between the two nations. In addition to Paris, Eurostar serves other European cities such as Amsterdam and Brussels.

The terminals for Eurostar, which whisks passengers between Paris and London in about two hours and 15 minutes, were designed for a Europe in which travelers could move smoothly among countries, Mr. Smith said.

“They were not designed for a situation in which an iron curtain descends,” he said. “They were not designed for Brexit.”

“Brexit,” he added, “by definition has created a hard border between France and Britain in the middle of the channel.”

Mark Smith, incidentally, is "The Man In Seat 61".

On the Continent, both COVID and the War have caused "cracks" in the free movement between "Schengen Agreement" members of the EU. Germany has established passport controls at least with Austria. At Freilassing, trains are stopped for document examination. On one train I rode this past August, the Polizei Officer actually looked at my passport, but on another, it was just a wave.

Uh.... the UK was never part of Schengen. The border check was always part of Eurostar as far as I remember.

Mr. Olesen, did I say UK was a Schengen party?

No... I'm taking on the author's premise that the passport control issues are a result of Brexit. It's a red herring.

Nothing materially changed except perhaps for the degree of scrutiny being given during the checks.

Gilbert B Norman wrote: ↑Sun Jan 29, 2023 7:29 pm On the Continent, both COVID and the War have caused "cracks" in the free movement between "Schengen Agreement" members of the EU. Germany has established passport controls at least with Austria. At Freilassing, trains are stopped for document examination. On one train I rode this past August, the Polizei Officer actually looked at my passport, but on another, it was just a wave.

To elaborate, traveling Eastward TO Austria, there is no passport control.

Entering and leaving Italy (went to Bolzano to have Lunch), at Brenner, there was a lengthy stop (well by European rail standards), but only a run through the train by the "mask police" (both Germany and Italy require such; Austria does not).

Now, after an announcement in both German and English, that "this is a passport checkpoint, please have documents ready for examination" entering Germany from Austria, once to go to Munich Stadtmitte for Lunch as well as not having been there since the "'60 Family Trip", on the private Westbahn, it seemed like the Polizei were looking at my visa (just the stamp, but it's still a visa) I guess wondering if I were legally entering Germany.

When leaving to go to MUC on a Bayern regional, the "examination" was simply a wave.

FAIK, to the Westbahn examiner, I looked like a Russian avoiding military conscription!!! (does Putin need 81yos to fight his war).